The Illinois Department of Human Services plans to dramatically reduce the number of patients with developmental disabilities who live at the embattled state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker responds to watchdog's call for harsher penalties in wake of abuse at Illinois mental health center.
In an exclusive interview, Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou (right) and Chief Resident Safety Officer Ryan Thomas discuss impending changes to the state’s system that serves developmentally disabled individuals.
See full coverage of abuse, cover-ups at Choate
Read the investigative stories on the abuse of patients and the cover-ups by staff at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna, Illinois.
Consequences are few as reports of heinous abuse continue to pile up at Choate.
For decades, officials have urged reforms at the facility for people with mental and developmental disabilities. But it still has more allegations of abuse and neglect than any in Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker resisted, but did not rule out, a call to close Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois after reporters found widespread problems.
No one was charged when staff were caught on tape threatening violence against a Choate resident who has developmental disabilities. New reporting shows a culture of cover-ups at the facility.
The newly released report from an Illinois Department of Health Services watchdog revealed a code of silence at the Choate mental health center where staff abused and neglected patients.
For years, residents at Choate received scant treatment for their developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, then faced felonies for lashing out at staff.
The official cited investigations into Choate, a center for people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities, where workers lied or conspired to thwart patient abuse inquiries.
Newly obtained documents show "a brazenness and sense of impunity … that must be combatted" at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. The governor has said Choate must be reformed.
News reporting put a spotlight on the problems at Choate, officials said, and it’s time to improve conditions for residents with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses.
The legislation, spurred by a news investigation, allows workers to be barred from health care jobs for obstructing investigations into staff misconduct. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bill Friday.
During an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker responded to questions about conditions at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
Republican members of the Illinois House and Senate held a press conference Thursday to call for joint House and Senate committee hearings to investigate reports of abuse and neglect at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
The transcript is from Illinois investigators.
Timeline of Choate employees' arrests and outcomes
2014: Mark Allen, Curt Ellis, Justin Butler and Eric Bittle
Accusation: A resident was brutally assaulted by one or more mental health techs in December 2014 who sought to cover up the abuse and interfere in a state police investigation.
Charged employees, clockwise from left: Mark Allen, Curt Ellis, Justin Butler and Eric Bittle
Charges: In 2016, Allen was charged with aggravated battery and intimidation, and Ellis, Butler and Bittle were charged with obstruction of justice.
Outcome: A few months after they were charged, Ellis, Butler and Bittle pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for failing to report the abuse; in 2021, Allen pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for concealing evidence.
2016: Chayla Brown
Accusation: In 2016, a mental health tech slapped a patient with an open hand while the individual was eating breakfast.
Charged employee: Chayla Brown
Charge: In 2017, Brown was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: In 2018, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery.
2017: Cheryl Muckley
Accusation: A facility administrator took home patient injury reports and other private medical records that ended up stashed in a personal storage shed in 2017.
Charged employee: Cheryl Muckley
Charge: That same year, Muckley was charged with felony altering/destroying public records.
Outcome: Later that year, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal damage to property.
2017: Victor Metzger
Accusation: A mental health tech punched a patient, breaking two of his ribs, in 2017.
Charged employee: Victor Metzger
Charge: In 2017, Metzger was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: In 2021, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery.
2017-2018: John Lingle, Cody Barger
Accusation: Two mental health techs failed to report harm to a patient that resulted in a broken arm sometime between September 2017 and March 2018; during that same time frame, one of them also failed to report that he’d witnessed another employee force a patient to drink a cup of hot sauce.
Charged employees, from left: John Lingle, Cody Barger
Charge: In 2020, Lingle and Barger were charged with official misconduct/obstruction of justice.
Outcome: In 2021, Lingle and Barger received a “second chance” probation sentence in lieu of pleading guilty to reduced felony charges of obstruction of justice for destroying evidence.
2018: Stacy Thomas
Accusation: In May 2018, a nurse stole Clonazepam, a prescription drug used to treat seizures and anxiety disorders, from Choate.
Charged employee: Stacy Thomas
Charge: In 2019, Thomas was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and theft under $500.
Outcome: In 2019, Thomas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.
2019: Greg Johnson, Ruth Massie and Paris Ferguson
Accusation: In 2019, two mental health techs held down a patient while a third assaulted the individual.
Charged employees: Greg Johnson, Ruth Massie and Paris Ferguson
Charge: In 2021, Johnson was charged with felony aggravated battery, and Massie and Ferguson were charged with unlawful restraint.
Outcome: In 2021, the charges against Johnson and Massie were dismissed; the charge against Ferguson was dismissed in August.
2020: Kevin Jackson, three others
Accusation: A mental health tech struck a patient multiple times with a belt in January 2020, and three administrators took actions that interfered with the Illinois State Police’s investigation into the incident.
Charged employees: Kevin Jackson (pictured), a mental health tech; facility director Bryant Davis; and assistant directors Gary Goins and Teresa Smith
Charges: Jackson was charged with aggravated battery; Davis, Goins and Smith were charged with official misconduct, and Smith additionally with obstructing justice.
Outcome: Jackson pleaded not guilty and his case is pending; charges were dismissed against Davis, Goins and Smith.
2020: Charles Mills
Accusation: In March 2020, a mental health tech sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled resident.
Charged employee: Charles Mills
Charge: In 2022, Mills was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Outcome: Mills has pleaded not guilty, and his case is pending.
2020: Dalton Anderson, Bobby Lee, Johnny Brimm, Mat Wiseman
Accusation: Four mental health techs choked and punched a resident in May 2020.
Charged employees, clockwise from left: Dalton Anderson, Bobby Lee, Johnny Brimm, Mat Wiseman
Charges: All four were charged with felony aggravated battery; Wiseman and Brimm were also charged with felony obstruction of justice.
Outcome: Earlier this year, Wiseman and Brimm pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery; the charges against Lee and Anderson, who both pleaded not guilty, are pending in court.
2021: Brad Cross
Accusation: In April 2021, a mental health tech grabbed a patient by the hair and punched him in the back of the head; the patient has the mental functioning of an infant and is nonverbal, court records show.
Charged employee: Brad Cross
Charge: In 2022, Cross was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: Cross has pleaded not guilty, and his case is pending.
